Sunday, December 30, 2012

Before
leaving Casa Blanca this morning I had to get a shot for the wall of
fame:

And
then it was off to breakfast where I had an interesting character serenade me
and try and sell me sun glasses.

Breakfast
was quite good; beans and rice with an egg on top and a cup of coffee. Simple,
filling, and tasty. Can't ask for more.

The
road out of Cali was nice, smooth two lane highway that passed through countless
sugarcane fields.

The
army was out in force today; I must have passed at least 10 checkpoints,
including this one:

They're
always so cheerful.....

There was lots of pretty scenery today. I had to
stop and go off road to get a picture of the bike in all of these
trees.

Around
11:00 AM I rolled into Popayan. It was incredibly beautiful and I wished that I
would have stayed here instead of Cali. The central part of town is all white
washed well preserved colonial buildings. The town was founded in 1537 and
became the residence of many wealthy Spaniards who moved up from the sugarcane
fields near Cali.

I
rode to the central plaza and then found a restaurant for lunch.

Popayan
looked incredible and the climate was far more mild than Cali. If I were doing
this over again, I would have skipped Cali and come straight here. Or maybe I
would have stopped and picked up a Motolombia sticker and then headed straight
here...

Just outside of Popayan I started coming across groups of people
standing along side the road asking for money; each group of people had a large
human efigies close at hand. Daniel and Juan David from Medellin had told me
that people collect money then use it to buy fireworks and gunpowder which they
stuff into these effigies. Then they blow them up. Now that sounds like my kind
of charity! I had some coins I needed to get ride of, so I pulled
over.

This
family was super stoked that I stopped by; the dad was having his wife and kids
pose with me while he snapped pictures. It took me a minute, but I was finally
able to convince them to stand near their dummy so that I could get a shot of
them too. And even then he was snapping pictures of me. I'm starting to get too
popular down here.

Just after I made my donation to the explosives fund,
the road started turning to crap and the scenery started to improve
drastically.

Seeing
all of this beautiful terrain really took it out of me and I was forced to stop
for a redbull and some bags of water.

The
bagged water is significantly cheaper than bottled and is a great way to fill up
your camelbak.

After the pitstop I got back on the road and was blown
away by how amazing the scenery was getting. I think there was some sort of
inverse relationship occurring between road quality and scenery. As the view
started getting more pretty, the road started getting really ugly.

I came
around a corner and saw a cloud bank pouring over a ridge line right in front of
me. It was breathtaking.

I
pulled a little further off the road and actually got off my bike to take a
picture (gasp!) of these clouds coming down the mountain.

It
was almost like they were snowcapped. I wish I was a better photographer. These
pictures don't do it justice.

The
road started climbing and soon I was overlooking some terrific
valleys:

Man,
what great riding! The road was absolute garbage, but the views totally redeemed
it!

I arrived in Pasto and got a room at the Koala Inn. 28,000 Pesos for
a private room with bathroom. Wifi, hot water, and free pancake breakfast. Great
deal. Unfortunately, the only secure parking is a block away.

After
checking in and dropping off my bags, I headed out into town to fill up my gas
tank so that I wouldn't have to do it in the morning. Much to my chagrin, I
found that most of the gas stations in town were out of gas and the few that
were open had lines of cars stretching for blocks waiting to fill
up.

Looking at the picture below, the line of cars on the left are all
waiting to fill up at the gas station up the street. The gas station is just
below the bright neon sign above the red bus in the middle of the road.

I
was a little frustrated, but I settled down to wait my turn. Then I saw a bunch
of bikes zip up to the front of the line so I went up to see what was going
on.

Apparently motorcycles have cutting privileges in gas shortages too!
It pays to ride in Colombia!

Tomorrow
I'm heading for Ecuador. The border is only 60 miles away and I'm interested to
see if they bring up my traffic ticket or not. I'm trying to make it to the town
of Cayambe and an old Monastery turned hotel on the equator for a New Years Eve
party with a bunch of advriders.

After
a refreshing night's sleep, I awoke and walked over to the nearby restaurant and
had breakfast: juevos revueltos, un poco de pan, una arepa, y cafe
negro.

Got
on the road around 8:30 PM and started riding. I'll admit I was only using one
eye to watch the road; the other was scanning for the fuzz. Luckily today was
all double and even triple lane highway, solid pavement, no potholes, and only a
minimal amount of untethered livestock on the shoulders.

The
road was so amazing, so smooth, and so damn boring that I started falling
asleep. Eventually I pulled over for a pitstop.

After
re-energizing with copious amounts of sugar and caffeine I was good to go.
Everytime I've passed soldiers on the road down here, they always give me a
thumbs up. I'm not quite sure what that means; at first I thought they really
liked my bike, but then I saw them do it cars as well, so who
knows?

As I was spacing along down the highway, I passed some
soldiers who gave me the old thumbs up, so I pulled over to see what the deal
was. We ended up chatting a little bit and I convinced them to take some
pictures with me.

....and
I totally forgot to ask them what the deal was with the thumbs up. Maybe
tomorrow.

The road kept on being amazing and incredibly boring.
Before I realized it I was in Cali. I still haven't loaded any maps on my GPS,
so I spent a few minutes playing hot and cold on the streets with the little
waypoint marker for the Hostel. Eventually I found it.....

Casa
Blanca Hostel. It's run by Mike, the guy that owns Motolombia. Motolombia rents
bikes (KLR's, BMW's, etc.) and operates tours. Mike has been running the
business since he stopped in Colombia five years ago at the end of a South
America ride. He's married a Colombiana and is living the dream. He told me that
they've had over 2,000 overlanders stop by the Hostel in the past five years.
They've got a wall of fame above the staircase with pictures of some of the
people that have stopped by.

I
also met Adam, an Australian who bought a bike down south and was riding North
until he got into a little accident in Colombia. He doesn't really remember what
happened and he's not quite sure where his bike is, but he's staying at Casa
Blanca recuperating until he can get things figured out. He has two broken arms
and some crushed digits; just had surgery two days ago and seems to be in good
spirirts...

After
checking in at the Hostel I walked over to the parking lot where I had stashed
my bike and convinced them to let me change my oil in the gravel.

I
found some JASO rated Mobil 10W-40 Synthetic this time...

The
old XRL is still drinking a little oil everyday. I added about 800ml in the last
2,000 mile stretch. I've started telling people that when I pull over at the gas
station it's to fill up the oil and check the gas.

Tomorrow I'm going
to blast for the border. I've been told that there is a big New Year's gathering
of advriders at an old monastery turned hotel just across the border in Ecuador.

Well,
I finally managed to leave Medellin. It was hard, but I forced myself to pack up
and get out. Before I left I had to have Al sign the tank:

And
then I had to get a picture with him and Zach, his manager, and James, one of
the Motolobia guys, in front of the Shamrock.

Al,
if you're reading this, thanks for the great stay! The Shamrock rules! By the
way, you need to start a wall of fame with pictures from all of the overlanders
that stop at your bar.

As I was leaving, Byron and Isabel rolled up and
took over my room. It was good to see them again. I have a feeling I'll be
meeting them again at least one more time.

Getting on the road south
again felt good. It was hot out, but my new pressure suit thingamig was working
great. After passing quite a bit of stalled traffic coming out of the city, I
began to reflect that the double yellow line running down the middle of most
roads does not mean "don't pass" but is actually a tiny passing lane for
motos.

The
ride out of Medellin heading south towards Cali is fantastic. Their is a fairly
large climb and then an even larger drop down into a long river valley. Part of
the road follows a ridge line down into the lowlands.

Stopped
for lunch at a roadside restaurant after I finally got to the floor of the
valley and ordered "Choripapas", which I figured would be sausage and potatoes,
but ended up being french fries and potatoes. Close enough.

After
lunch I was blasting south when I saw a couple of riders stopped by the road on
a VSTROM 650. I pulled over and said hi and asked for directions. They were
taking a break from their riding gear as it was incredibly hot and humid. Once
again I was thankful that I had purchased the pressure suit.

After
leaving the VSTROM riders, I was coming around a corner when I ran right into a
Colombian Speed Trap! Ay Carumba! The cops immediately jumped out into the road
and motioned me to pull over. As soon as I had my helmet off, one of the cops
came up and started asking for my papers and telling me that I had just been
caught violating the speed limit. Blast!

I tried the stupid gringo trick
and acted like I had no idea what he was saying; however, he was extremely
persistent, so I eventually gave him my fake driver's license, and copies of my
passport, importation papers, and insurance. He took everything over to his jefe
and they started writing me up. I waltzed over and took a look at their
operation. They had a perfect location, just at the bottom of a long sweeping
curve where the speed limit dropped from 80 KPH to 50 KPH in the span of a few
meters. You can see the curve in the background as one of the coppers
scrutinizes my xeroxes:

I
was a little pissed, but there wasn't much that I could do. It's not like I've
actually been paying attention to speed limits. I don't usually ride much over
60 MPH anyways so it seemed like there was no need. This was also the first time
I had seen Colombians using a speed gun. It was pretty legit though. They showed
me the laser and replayed the video of me coming around the corner with my speed
(88 KPH) pasted across the image.

Well,
they got me fair and square. I waited for the discussion of money to begin;
however, the jefe took my documents and started writing me a ticket. Well I'll
be. I don't have to bribe anyone.

I
was still playing stupid so I couldn't really ask him where to pay. Next time
I'm just going to try giving them the sad Gringo look. About the same time they
gave me my ticket and told me to go away, another motorcyclists on a R1200GS got
pulled over. I asked the rider if he spoke English. He did. He then told me he
recognized me from yesterday; apparently he had been eating lunch in the
restaurant that I stopped at with Juan David, Daniel, and Rafa. Small world. I
asked him what I should do.

"Don't pay it. Just get the hell out of
Colombia. They aren't advanced enough to have it in the system by the time you
cross into Ecuador."

Okay
then. I'm not sure if that's the best advice, but I don't really know what else
to do. I guess I'll try and figure it out tomorrow.

I hopped back on and
continued riding until I reached Santa Rosa. I continued out of town until I
reached the Hot Springs, or "Termales" as they are called. Al told me about this
place and said it was a must see. There is a huge waterfall at the back of the
complex, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 feet.

My
pictures don't do it justice.

Getting
into the nice Hot Springs costs 40,000 pesos (about $20). I probably wouldn't
have paid that much, but a good soak sounded like a good idea and the restaurant
had wifi. Since my Cabana down the road does not have internet, I decided I
might as well take a dip and post on the old ride report. So here you
go!

That's
all for today. If there are any Colombianos reading this that want to give me
advice on that ticket, I'd appreciate it. I've got to go, the lady in the lobby
of the hotel that I'm pirating this wifi from is starting to give me dirty
looks.....

I
woke up this morning and changed my mind. I was going to leave Medellin. I
packed up all of my gear, locked up the Pelican cases and began loading my
stuff. That's when I realized that I still needed a ratchet strap. I walked over
to Moto Shop to talk to Federico about finding one. He hooked me up right quick.
That's when I decided that I needed to call Juan David from the XR club and tell
him that I wouldn't be making it to the meeting that night.

When I told
him the bad news, he told me to wait for him at the shop as he was already on
his way over to see me. So I stuck around. He showed up a few minutes later and
begged me to stay. He even gave me a Colombian flag balaclava and promised me
stickers and free food if I came to the meeting! How could I resist?

That
settled it. One more day. I said goodbye to Federico and he laughed at me and
told me he would see me tomorrow. Yeah, probably.

Juan David asked if I
wanted to go ride the "Vuelta a Oriente" and grab some lunch before the meeting.
He promised to take me somewhere authentic. Why not? Juan David called up his
buddy Daniel and we all jumped on the bikes and headed for the countryside. Juan
David is on a smoking XR650R and Daniel is on a surprisingly fast XR250 (the
real Japanese version, not the XR250 Tornado).

We
went to a resteraunt near to where Albert and I had dropped off the Brits a few
days before. I had Juan David and Daniel order for me to ensure that I got
something that was really "typico".

I
can't remember what it was called, but it was delicious! Beans and ham with a
side of rice, shredded beef, avocado, and few things that I didn't really
recognize.

As we were eating, another XR rider showed up. His name was
Rafa and he was riding an XR650L like me.

After
we finished, I tried to pay for my meal, but my new friends wouldn't hear of it.
They told me that it would be paid for by the club. Well all right, I like where
this is going!

After lunch we went out and snapped a few pics of the
bikes.

And then it was time to ride!

Rafa got us off to a nice start by
pulling some huge wheelies:

Which
pretty much set the tone for the rest of the ride. We struck off on the "Vuelta
a Oriente", a stunning windy path through the countryside east of Medellin. The
road was pristine, the weather perfect, and the riders all equally
crazy.

We rode the rest of the afternoon and even stopped for a little
desert in a small town. I had some Tres Leches cake. We finished up the ride and
I headed back to the Shamrock to get ready for the night. At around 7:30 PM, Juan David showed up on his XR650R and led me to
the gathering.

"Honda XR Antiochia" is a group of Paisas (Paisas:
Colombians from the north western part of Colombia) that all own and ride
Japanese made XR's. This is an important distinction as there are tons of Honda
XR's in South America that are made in Brazil and are of substandard quality.
The good XR's are all made in Japan and imported to Colombia. Earlier in the day
I had asked how much a bike like mine would cost in Colombia. They replied that
it would be around $8,000 - $9,000 used because of import fees! Considering that
I bought my bike (2008 XR650L with 1,400 miles) for $3,800, that's a hefty
markup!

I guess that goes to show why the imported XR's are so cherished.
The XR Antiochia club consists of over 60 bikes; last night there were about 20
in attendance. They claim that they are the largest group of XR riders in Latin
America and Europe. I'll admit, this is the largest gathering of big bikes (over
250cc) that I've seen since I left on the trip!

You'll
have to forgive the substandard photography, my camera doesn't do too well after
dark. All told, there were 6 XR650L's, 1 XR650R, a number or XR600R's, a few
XR400's, and a single XR250. It was incredible! A few of the bikes had been
converted into Super Motard variations. One guy had gone full black with acerbis
plastic.

As
soon as I hoped off my bike it was absolute mayhem! I had Colombianos swarming
all over me and the XRL asking me questions and looking at the bike. I was
quickly introduced to the leader of the pack, Andres, who presented me with the
official club baseball hat, t-shirt, shoulder bag, and sticker! These guys were
super generous!

We spent the next twenty minutes or so going around and
talking about the bikes. I asked how they had found me at the Shamrock and they
told me that one of their members had been surfing the internet and had come
across my blog. After seeing that I was in Medellin and that I had visited
Federico at Moto Shop, Juan David had gone and asked Federico where I was and
then tracked me down at the Shamrock. What a crazy story! Apparently I'm a
celebrity now.

After
receiving so many gifts, I decided to return the generosity by handing out
mustache stickers and having a tank signing party. Here's Juan David and
Andres:

I
eventually had the whole club sign my tank. A few minutes after handing out the
mustaches, I started seeing them appear on bikes:

After
the exchange of gifts we got a group shot......

......and
it was time to ride! Almost all of the bikes present had aftermarket pipes and
the roar of 20 thumpers soon filled the gas station parking lot where we were
congregated. As soon as we pulled out into the road, all hell broke loose. There
were guys riding over the medians, through lawns, and pulling wheelies with
their girlfriends riding pillion. If you've ever done a group ride with a bunch
of crazy guys on Jap bikes, through a Latin American city, at night, you'll know
what I mean.

We busted out of Medellin and headed towards a town called
Santa Fe in search of a roadside BBQ joint. We ended up blasting through this
huge tunnel, must have been almost three miles long. I nearly suffocated on all
of the fumes and lost my hearing due to the noise of twenty bikes.

We
arrived at the BBQ place and I was introduced to some delicious Colombian beef
and lemonade.

From
what I understood, the beef was actually veal. For only 15,000 pesos a plate, it
was quite a deal.

After dinner we all mounted up and rode back to
town.

Had
to make a brief stop at the toll gate before the tunnel and wait for the traffic
to pass since the tunnel traffic is one way and switches directions every 15
minutes or so.

After
we exited the tunnel, I waved goodbye to the majority of my new friends and Juan
David led me back to the Shamrock. We made a brief stop to check out the
Christmas Lights along the river.

And
then it was back to the bar. We pulled up around midnight and I said my goodbyes
to Juan David. What a great guy! Super generous and an awesome rider. I had a
great time last night. The best thing about this trip so far has been meeting
cool people and last night was the biggest meeting of cool people I have had so
far. Me encanta Colombia!